Little Bean Tea Station

Little Bean in Yaohan just underwent some renovations.  When they boarded up the place last week, I was a bit disappointed because I thought they were closing for good.  I was pleasantly surprised to seem them open up shop about a week later...didn't want to have wasted my points card!

Bubble Tea has been in Richmond for more than 15 years (18 yrs maybe?) and I'm 99% sure that Bubble Tea arrived in the lower mainland of BC before it spread throughout North America.  Little Bean was one of the earlier shops that sold Bubble Tea, but I'm pretty sure it was Little Tea House and Bubbleworld that started it all here in Vancouver/Richmond.  I used to go here a lot (here and Bubbleworld) but I haven't been for a while trying to cut back - too fat, haha!

Usually, I order matcha ice cream with pearls, but I don't remember it being so watered down.  It still tasted good, but definitely not as much ice cream as I remember.  I'll have to check out Bubbleworld to see if I remember which one I liked better.  Like I said, it's been ages.  My previous favourite was Taro milk tea (not real taro, the powdered kind, haha!).

Seoul Express - Yaohan

The last stop I have on the Chinese food court tour isn't Chinese, it's Korean.  Haha, but it's in a prodominantly Chinese food court and they have good Korean food so it's on this list.  In an earlier post, my pal Vince warned me about claims to authenticity and the word "Express" in the name of the shop, but there's no doubt that Seoul Express' proprietors are very, very Korean.

Seoul Express has been a member of the Yaohan food court for years, and I occasionally go there when I need hangover food or something to burn a hole in my guts. 

I usually get their stone bowl bi bim bap.

This is a boiling vat of I-don't-know-what, but it looked very terrifying and angry so I took a picture of it.

My stone bowl with a good amount of chili sauce.  It really gives the meal character. 

It comes with a bowl of soup, side veg and a cup of tea, all required to enhance your experience with ring of fire later on.

Like I said, the place is pretty good and it's kind of a surprise to find it at the Yaohan food court of all places.  The service is is friendly enough  and the food comes fairly quick considering the prep work behind some of the dishes.....best thing of all, food court prices!

Pak Tak Chiu Restaurant - Yaohan

Okay, back to the Chinese food court theme.  It's funny how you're there to do a review (a good one) of a place and the staff are giving you grief about taking pictures.  I tried to explain it to them, and they still gave me a hard time.  Pak Tak and the two places next to it practically have the exact same menu and the exact same prices (and even change prices at the end of the day at the exact same time), so I don't know what the big secret is if I snap a few pictures.  Anyway, I like to eat here.

The special combo here is pretty good going during the day, but near the end of the day, the prices drop, along with their two competitors.  Despite being given a hard time about the pictures, the service here on the corner is marginally better than the other two, so I prefer eating at Pak Tak.

My favourite heart-stopper is the wu hua rou.  Yes, it will probably kill you faster than smoking, but damn, it tastes good. 

Deep fried squid, another major cause for cardiac arrest, but oh so delicious.

Deep fried prawns - these suckers are huge and the staff are quite generous on the portions.

Deep friend smelt.....starting to see a trend here with the deep-fried?

Then you take all of that greasy goodness and pile it on top of some sticky rice for an extra 50 cents, who wants to live forever?

Like I said, the food is good here, and for 6 bucks, it comes in just under a meal and McPukes, and way under for BK or A&W.  Of course, there are way healthier options available at Pak Tak, but it's far more satisfying to eat what I eat, trust me.

Curry House - Yaohan

Curry House is famous for the curry fish balls....well, at least that's what I usually get when I go there.  The curry here is cheap, and pretty tasty.  Personally, I like Mui Garden better, but I guess that's my personal choice.  I think a lot of people like the hainan chicken here too, but again, that's not my favourite. 

My parents often get something they call lao huo tang.  For me, it's just Chinese soup...a big vat of boiling broth with whatever bits they can find thrown in.  It actually has a lot of flavour and possibly loads of nutrients in it....and it's cheap. 

If you're looking for a quick and cheap snack, stop by Curry House.  My parents go here quite a bit for the soup, and I like the curry fish balls, and I've even seen the manager of T&T Supermarket frequent this place.  There you go, three reasons to go to Curry House, haha!  Seriously though, the rating on this place is not so good, but the two reviews are good, and it really is too cheap to complain much. 

Food Company (Lumingchun) - Yaohan

The Food Court tour continues with a place called Lumingchun, another shop at the Yaohan food court that produces some pretty decent grub, in this case steamed buns.  My parents come here when they want something fresh out of the steamer and they don't want to make the frozen variety at home. 

I've had their steamed buns before and they're pretty good, but this day, my dad wanted to try something different, and I have no idea what you call it.  My dad just simply referred to it as rou bing.  How do I describe it in English?  Meat pie?  Well, it's not really a pie, because it's pan fried, but it's got meat in it. 

The "Meat Pie" tasted pretty good actually, but the chili oil made it taste that much better.  I'm not much for spicy food, but this one was really good, and it was perfectly paired (paired....haha, what a fancy word!) with the meat pie.  It wasn't over-the-top spicy so I was able to handle it.   

Lumingchun has probably one of the unimaginative English names I've ever heard of. It's right up there with silly names such as "The Big Crazy". Yes, there's a shop in Richmond called The Big Crazy...what's that supposed to mean anyway? Anyway, despite the name, they make some pretty good food.

Wah Yuen Noodle House - Yaohan

Where does one go on New Year's Day when everything is closed?  You go to a Chinese mall and find that everything is open.  The food court, a continuation of the the tour started with my parents on Christmas day.  There are a lot of decent places to grab a bite to eat at the Yaohan Food Court, and it's probably more authentic than most other food courts.  Whenever I see a Chinese place at say Granville Island, Richmond Centre, Lansdowne or some mall downtown, I shudder when I see what is passed off as "Chinese food" - all weird and wonderful colors, and EVERYTHING is shiny. 

The noodle place always has a crowd hovering around it. 

The boss here handles a lot of the food, supervises his crew, and has one of the loudest voices in the food court.

Not exactly the cleanest place you'll find, but hey, it's tough handling all those orders in a neat and tidy fashion.....no, actually, it's probably impossible and I'm not kidding you when I say food flies out of this place.

My favourite at this place - zha liang.  The Chinese donut in the middle is always crispy and the noodles are always nice and moist.  These guys are made to order, guaranteed to be fresh.  The congee here is pretty good at this place as well, I've never tried the noodles or wontons.